A Whole Load Of Sweetness
by Marauder-In-Disguise
Summary: Garcia watches, and learns something new about her boss... Just some season one-ish, private jet-ish type fluff of the character building variety!


**A/N - I found this on my hard drive the other day and realised that it's the first piece of Criminal Minds ff that I ever wrote and I never had the guts to upload it. So, here it is. Just for fun. Oh, and if you're waiting for the next instalment of 'Charmed', it will be uploaded soon – the Rossi love will continue!**

**Disclaimer – Well, I called my accountant but apparently my list of assets still doesn't include Criminal Minds. This is starting to get irritating…**

Garcia waved to the night cleaner as she covered the long distance from the coffee machine to her desk. It had been a long day, and the cup of mocha she had just downed was all that she suspected would keep her awake for the drive home. As she picked up the bin and swept the now useless scribblings from the day into it, her eyes fell on the main computer screen and the tiny icon that usually sat unnoticed in the corner of the desktop. Normally, she had no use for it, but something was telling her that tonight she should use it. Just to check on them. After such a difficult case, she needed to know that they were OK.

Glancing furtively around, as if there was anyone left at the office who really cared about what she was doing, she took her seat once again and double clicked the icon. After a few taps of the keyboard, she was in. It had been on one of her routine scouting missions of the FBI computer systems that she discovered all of the private jets owned and operated by the FBI had been installed with surveillance technology. It had only taken a few moments more to help herself to the access codes for the jet that her team frequented, and she'd taken a sneaky look at a very boring, empty cabin. Since then, she'd taken the occasional look at the gang when they were on the way to a case, but normally they weren't doing anything that interesting. She didn't dare try and prod further to see if the system had audio as well – it was already a pretty complicated dance she was performing just getting access to the pictures. She hadn't told anyone about her discovery, not even Derek. It wasn't that exciting anyway for anyone who wasn't her. It was just cool to be able to see them, like seeing someone she knew on TV.

She took one more look over her shoulder and turned back to the screen. There were several different cameras placed at different angles, and there was some rudimentary zooming in possible that she had found on her second visit. It was pretty limited, but it was fun. One of the cameras was in the cockpit and she ignored it. Pilots flew planes. That was all she needed to know.

The three cameras in the cabin told a different story. The whole team was sleeping, or so it appeared. JJ and Elle had nabbed the sofa and were curled at opposite ends with their legs tucked under themselves in strikingly similar poses. Reid and Morgan, apparently relegated to the armchairs, made for a particularly adorable picture, with Reid's head resting on Morgan's shoulder. Hotch sat by himself in the roomy chair near the door to the cockpit, with his head resting on one of his hands, and Gideon was sprawled in a similar chair across from Morgan and Reid, his glasses resting on his chest and looking so ungainly, so unlike the Gideon that she knew, that Garcia had to laugh.

Safe in the knowledge that they were all fine, she moved to exit the programme and call it a day. It was cute to see what they were doing but, all sleeping, they were pretty dull. She left the screen on for a few seconds longer whilst she threw some things into her bag, and turned around just in time to see Hotch stand up. For a minute she dithered; Hotch was a private man, she knew that, and it didn't feel quite right to be watching him like she was. But, then again, he wasn't going to get up to much in the cabin of a small jet with the rest of his team sleeping around him. She sat down and cracked open a can of lemonade that she'd found in a desk drawer – it couldn't hurt to watch for a while. He'd probably only sit down and do paperwork anyway. As far as she could tell, paperwork was essentially his life.

"Who knows?" she murmured to herself, "I might even learn something about him."

**-SWEETNESS-**

Aaron stood slowly, trying to ease out the muscles in his back. He'd been tense for a while, and the chairs on the plane never helped much. It had never occurred to him to ask if he could have the sofa, so he could stretch out, and he'd never disturb the others once they were settled. JJ and Elle had fallen asleep almost straight away, just after take-off. He didn't know how much rest any of the team had got over the previous three days, but he'd got almost none, and judging by the way that they'd all given up and settled down for a nap, neither had they. He padded quietly past them and slipped into the tiny kitchen area, pouring himself a coffee from the rapidly cooling pot. Reid must have put it on out of habit, because no one else appeared to have touched it. Aaron leaned for a while against the counter and tried to stretch his back a little. He often wished that stress would find another way to manifest itself in his body; back pain was a difficult thing to cover up and he knew that Gideon would have noticed.

Taking his coffee, Aaron slipped back into the cabin and walked up and down several times, nursing his drink. The case was a difficult one to shake – he'd always hated it when children were involved – and it helped to be moving when he was troubled. Movement always seemed to soothe him, and he pondered for a moment on the theories of child development that Gideon and Reid would apply to him if he told them that. As he passed the oldest member of his team, he noticed that Gideon had left his glasses resting on his chest again. He broke them so often doing that; Aaron reached down and carefully plucked them away, placing them neatly on the table out of harm's way. Gideon always looked so peaceful when he slept; Aaron used to believe that men like Gideon, who looked evil in the eye every day, would look uneasy when they slept, but Gideon never did. He didn't sleep much, but he never suffered when he did. Aaron wondered if he looked so relaxed when he slept. That would be an interesting question for Haley.

One of the case files was slipping from Reid's hand when Aaron glanced at him, and he moved swiftly to take it. If it fell, it would only wake people up. Aaron couldn't even begin to remember how many times he had saved a book or a file from falling when Reid was asleep, and he wondered for a moment if the younger man needed to be reading in order to get to sleep in the first place. It probably made sense; little Spencer, alone in his room at night, craving the comfort that books could offer him because he knew that no one else would come to chase away the nightmares. Books were literally his crutch. Morgan, on the other hand, needed his music. Aaron knew this, thanks to countless nights in hotels when Morgan was in the room just next door and the tiniest sound could be heard coming from his oversized headphones. He always had it just slightly too loud, slightly too much to be able to hear anything else over it. Just enough to block out the world when it all became a bit too much. The two of them had found their method of coping alright, and it was enviable sometimes.

With an exhausted yawn, Aaron wandered back to his seat and tried to get comfortable. He glanced at Elle and JJ, stood up again and went to the storage compartment, bringing back a large blanket. Elle was shivering. She was always cold, even when the plane was warm enough for the others to be taking off jackets and jumpers. Carefully, Aaron draped the blanket over her. She moved slightly, adjusting to the new temperature, and then was still. Elle always slept when she could, and that was why she always looked the most refreshed out of any of them. Aaron suspected that it of course was helped by the fact that she was beautiful, but she never had puffy eyes, never had the drawn and pale look of someone about to pass out from exhaustion. JJ, of course, was beautiful too, he noted, pulling the blanket a little so it covered her legs, but hers was a more haunted kind of beauty. JJ had bad dreams, he knew, because sometimes he'd be sitting talking with Gideon and she'd whimper quietly, or mutter furiously to herself. The thing was, he suspected, JJ didn't dream about the cases that they had solved; she dreamed about the ones that she had to say no to and the horrors that she had to turn her back on. Only, when you're sleeping, the things you try and ignore have a habit of sneaking up on you.

Aaron settled down again in his chair, shifting to get comfortable. He rested his head on the back of the chair and was surprised to find that he was tired. Maybe he could just rest his eyes for a while, even if he didn't get to sleep. Every little bit of rest helped in the long run.

And then, more easily than in a long time, Aaron Hotchner was asleep.

**-SWEETNESS-**

Garcia watched with interest as Hotch moved quietly around the cabin, moving things and fetching blankets and just watching his team. From any other person, she might have found it slightly odd, but Hotch was different, that much she knew. He knew his people inside out and upside down, even Gideon, and he seemed to be looking for something as he watched them. The man was a psychologist, through and through.

Garcia tutted as he seemed to try and smooth out some knot in his back. He really seemed to be suffering and she wondered if anyone else knew. Knowing Hotch, probably not. The man was so frustrating. He knew their secrets, or most of them, but they knew very few of his.

"Oh, Papa Bear," Garcia whispered, as he settled down in his chair and tried to get comfortable, "Aren't you just a whole load of sweetness under all that crusty?"

And then, with a small smile, she switched off the computer and left him to his sleep.


End file.
